Simple is Often the Most Effective

Simply search “weight loss diet” on the internet, and you are going to get millions of listings for all kinds of weight loss diets, with thousands more created every day. With the sea of weight loss information out there and so many different options to choose from, how are we supposed to know which ones work and which ones don’t?

First off, we need to recognize that beginning and sticking with the weight loss process is one of the most difficult, daunting, and challenging decisions that you can make in your life. With all of the weight loss information out there including diets, workout programs, cleanses, detoxes, and recipes, it can be so easy to get overwhelmed and ultimately, give up.

So what are the best ways to lose weight?

How can you spot the overly complicated weight loss solutions out there?

How can you recognize an effective weight loss diet or program?

When it comes to losing weight or choosing a diet or exercise program, it is often the most simple diets and nutrition programs are the most effective. With that in mind, it is fairly easy to see why weight loss smoothies, shakes, and juicing diets have gotten so popular in the last 10 or so years.

Why Weight Loss Shakes Make Losing Weight so Easy

There are a few reasons why weight loss shakes and smoothies have become so popular.

They are healthy meal replacements to crappy foods that you could normally be eating

They are super easy to prep for and make

They are made with real food that your body recognizes, which will help you lose weight.

If you have the right recipes to use, they taste delicious

Weight loss shakes and smoothies lower the barrier to entry for what you need to be doing to lose weight. Many books and weight loss programs out in stores and online will give you hundreds of pages of dietary guidelines to follow and advanced workout program that they will say that you need to be doing to lose weight.

Not that those programs won’t work. They definitely will, and most people who stick with those kinds of programs will end of seeing incredible, visible results. The only problem with them is that they ask you to change every aspect of your life in terms of following a strict diet and exercise programs.

Weight loss smoothie diets are the ultimate version of simplified weight loss programs. Individuals who try protein smoothie diets or weight loss shakes end up losing 10-50 plus pounds by just substituting one meal per day with a weight loss smoothie.

Have we piqued your interest yet? Just in case you are interested in trying a protein smoothie diet for weight loss, we are going to load you up with everything that you are going to need to stick to a sweet and simple smoothie diet.

Things You Need to Get Started

1) A Blender

One of the beauties of protein smoothie diets for weight loss is that you don’t need a ton of expensive groceries or kitchen appliances to get started. You may already have a blender, but just in case you don’t, you can get some bargain blenders for really cheap prices at Target, Wal-Mart, and on Amazon. If you want the best tasting smoothies, like the ones at Jamba Juice, there are two great blender makers to choose from.

The next question that you should ask yourself is there anyone else in your house that would be interested in trying a weight loss shake diet with you? If yes, you might want to buy a bigger blender that can whip up multiple servings of shakes in minutes. If it is just you that’s trying out a protein smoothie diet, there are some really awesome single serving blenders on that even double as tumblers that you can take on the go.

2) Protein Powder

Have you ever heard that you need to be eating more protein in your diet? There’s a reason why so many experts say that.

Did you know that proteins and fats are actually the only macronutrients that we need to survive? Sure, carbohydrates taste great and they are an okay source of energy, but proteins and fats go so much further.

Two of the most important things about your protein powder is that it is low in sugar and that it tastes great to you. We would highly recommend sticking with unflavored, just because they tend to be the most versatile when it comes to blending with your fruits and veggies. Unflavored has the least amount of fillers and artificial ingredients while letting the flavors of fruits and veggies come thru.

We also recommend a top grade whey protein isolate. The isolate version is purer and also is more tolerant to those with dairy issues. We personally use and recommend Now Foods Whey Protein Isolate as it’s a great value and the taste is practically flavorless.

If you have dietary restrictions that limit you from consuming dairy, there are tons of great vegetable and soy based protein options that you can find in stores and online.

3) Your Favorite Fruits

The limits for fruits are pretty much endless when it comes to designing your own weight loss smoothie recipes. Bananas are tasty, fairly low in sugar, and will give your smoothie a smooth, creamy texture, so they are great for throwing in just about any smoothie recipe.

Here are some of our favorite fruits for weight loss smoothies.

Bananas

Blueberries

Raspberries

Cherries

Strawberries

Apples

Pears

Pineapple

Mango

Make sure that you take the pits and seeds out of fruits, when appropriate.

4) Grab Some Veggies

Veggies are a great way to sneak some added nutrition into your weight loss smoothies. We know what you might be thinking, “Don’t vegetables taste gross in smoothies?” Not if you choose the right ones. Spinach, by far, is the easiest of vegetables to sneak in because it is packed with nutrients and it is virtually flavorless.

You can also use other leafy greens like kale, which has more flavor. Pumpkin, sweet potatoes, celery, and cucumbers are also great for throwing into your smoothies. Powdered greens supplements work well for smoothies too.

As long as you have a great tasting protein powder, some flavorful fats, and are using either coconut or almond milk, you will hardly notice that you have any vegetables in your smoothie.

5) Pick a Fat

Remember what we said about the importance of proteins and fats? Fats are not going to make you fat, and they are actually your body’s ideal source of energy. Throwing healthy fats in your smoothie are a great way to give you an energy boost in the morning, or help you out as an afternoon pick-me-up.

Here are the fats that we like throwing in our weight loss smoothies.

Cashews

Almonds

Flax seeds

Pumpkin seeds

Walnuts

Peanuts

Peanut butter

Almond butter

Other nut butters

Remember what we said about not worrying about the taste or texture of vegetables in your smoothies? Healthy fats add a ton of great flavor and texture to your smoothie, especially when you add peanut butter to a smoothie. That flavor alone can cover just about any green, cruciferous vegetable that you could add to your smoothies.

6) Choosing a Liquid for Your Smoothies

Choosing the right liquid for your smoothie comes down to how low calorie you want to go, what kind of flavors that you want, and your dietary restrictions or preferences. For your most basic smoothie that cuts the corners on calories, you can always just use water for your liquid choice.

Here are some of the liquids that we recommend for your smoothies.

Water

Unsweetened almond milk

Unsweetened coconut milk

Cow’s milk (skim, 1%, 2%, whole)

Soy milk

Keep in mind that the less liquid that you use in your smoothie, the thicker, more shake-like consistency you are going to get. The more liquid you use, the thinner your weight loss shake consistency will be. Add your liquid to your shake according to your personal texture preference.

Since your overall goal is weight loss, we would highly recommend keeping the liquids of your smoothies to

Water

Unsweetened almond milk

Unsweetened coconut milk

Above all, we like using unsweetened almond milk and unsweetened coconut milk to your smoothies because they will give your shakes a nice touch of flavor and make them a little creamier. They are really, naturally low in calories and have virtually no sugar, unlike cow’s milk and soy milk. Go for water if you want to save a few calories and don’t mind having some less creamy smoothies.

7 Weight Loss Smoothie Recipes

Now that you have all of the gear and groceries that you need to start whipping your own weight loss smoothies together, we are going to get you started with seven recipes.

Once you get comfortable fixing these seven recipes, feel free to use the formula that we gave you above so that you can start designing your own delicious smoothie creations.

Are you a huge fan of chocolate? How about easy. The two of them are combined in this super tasty chocolate raspberry smoothie. Remember to add a scoop of whey protein isolate to make it great for a meal replacement shake.

Pumpkins just aren’t for the Fall. They’re a great year round food that is healthy, nutritious, and perfect for weight loss.

Here is a recipe that you can use for a unique and tasty meal replacement shake.

We suggest buying a pumpkin, cooking it, cutting it up and vacuum packing single servings. That way you only need to cook a pumpkin a couple of times a year. Or you can go the easy route and find them in a local grocery store as a frozen food.

If you have never tried it before, as a snack alone, scoops of peanut butter on a whole banana are an energizing snack, and the perfect combination of sweet and salty. As you can probably imagine, that also makes them ideal partners for throwing into the perfect protein smoothie.

Personally, we like using frozen bananas instead of fresh bananas with this recipe. Fresh bananas add a really nice smooth, and creamy texture to your smoothie, and that is enhanced even further when you use frozen bananas.

Here’s what we recommend doing. First, go out and make sure that you buy some healthy looking bananas. With a little bit of brown on the peel is usually when they are best for flavoring your smoothie.

Break your banana into little chunks that are about the size of the tip of your thumb.

Place those banana chunks in a ziplock bag

Put them in your freezer over night

Congratulations! You now have cold banana cubes that are going to be perfect for elevating the flavor and texture of your smoothies.

Like we mentioned earlier, green smoothies may sound really gross to you, but sneaking greens into your smoothies is an easy way to add a huge nutritional boost to your weight loss smoothies. What makes the deal even sweeter is that when using the right greens in the right amount, you will hardly even know that they are there.

If you are not a huge fan of leafy greens in the first place, we would highly recommend using raw spinach to add that nutritional punch to your smoothies. Spinach is packed with valuable nutrients and vitamins, and is basically tasteless when you blend it with tasty fruits, protein, and a healthy fat like peanut butter or almond butter.

Here are a few simple ways that you can hide the flavor and texture of vegetables in your smoothies

Use an unflavored protein powder.

Use peanut butter instead of almond butter. Peanut butter has a powerful taste that can cover up virtually any vegetable.

Add coffee grounds or coffee to your smoothie. Coffee is another strong flavor that you can use to cover up the taste of veggies in your smoothie.

Strawberry and banana is another classic combination that we see in everything from banana splits to milkshakes. So why not make a weight loss smoothie or protein shake out of them?

Strawberry and banana smoothies are an excellent combination of sweet and starchy, and the bananas in this smoothie gives it a creamy, milkshake like texture. Strawberries are loaded with helpful antioxidants and are naturally low in sugar. Bananas are great for throwing into smoothies because they are packed with flavor, give your smoothie an awesome creamy texture, and are also naturally low in sugar, which make them great for weight loss.

6) Chocolate Covered Strawberry Smoothie

Whether it be a romantic gift to give to your significant other, or a guilt-free way to treat yourself, chocolate covered strawberries are an awesome combination for making a weight loss smoothie creation out of. What we love about this smoothie recipe is that it is perfect for curbing your sweet tooth. Sweet tooth syndrome tends to strike when your blood sugar is low or when you get home from work and have nothing else to do, so you decide to eat.

This smoothie is a healthy alternative to actual chocolate covered strawberries and other high calorie, high sugar snacks that are not going to help you lose weight and body fat. So the next time you need a late night snack but need to avoid a spike in calories and sugar, give this smoothie recipe a try.

This may sound odd to you, but if you are feeling adventuresome, peanut butter is awesome for adding to this smoothie. If you want a healthy fat with a little less of a flavor punch though, we recommend using natural almond butter.

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Frozen Strawberry

1 frozen banana

1 cup chocolate almond milk

1 scoop whey protein isolate

7) Avocado Berry Blast Protein Smoothie

We know what you are thinking: “Why would you take a perfectly good smoothie and throw an avocado into it? Isn’t that going to be weird?”

On it’s face, this smoothie may sound exotic, way too adventuresome, or even totally weird. Here’s the cool thing about avocados in smoothies though, they add creamy, smooth, milkshake-like texture that you just can’t get with any other natural smoothie ingredient. Since avocado is a healthy fat, it also packs your shake with a rich and savory flavor that you can’t really get with any other healthy fat.

Give this recipe a shot before you try to knock it, and we are sure that you will be impressed, at very least.

Ingredients

1 cup frozen blueberries

1 cup almond milk

1/4 of an avocado (peeled and pitted)

How to Use These Recipes in a Weight Loss Smoothie Diet?

The easiest way that you can start using these protein shakes for weight loss recipes is by using one of these recipes as a meal substitute, every day.

Most people find that the easiest meal to substitute a weight loss smoothie in for is breakfast, just because you are already at home and have access to everything that you need to make your smoothies. Try drinking one of these smoothies for breakfast, seven days per week for a month, and track your results. Always check with your doctor before making any kind of significant changes to your diet or exercise program.

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